Jakarta – The Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy opposes the revisions to Law Number 4/2004 on the Indonesian Military (UU TNI) saying that they could reverse reformasi – the political reform process that began in 1998.
Setara highlighted the proposed revisions to Article 39 of the law that will abolish the prohibition on TNI soldiers conducting business activities. They also highlighted Article 47 that expands the authority for TNI soldiers to occupy civilian positions.
"The proposed revisions to these two articles have the potential to reverse the direction of military reform and the ideals of the mandate of reformasi that have been continuously maintained up until now", said the Setara Institute in a written statement on Sunday July 14.
Setara does not agree with the argument that the article should be removed because many soldiers help their families with their business at small shops or stalls. Setara says that this argument is incorrect.
According to the Setara Institute, removing this prohibition will actually open the door for the TNI involvement in business and they are concerned that this will make the TNI unprofessional.
"It could actually have an impact on the involvement in larger business activities, distancing the TNI from professionalism, and potentially plunging the TNI into bad practices in business activities, such as becoming a backer for a business entity", said Setara.
Regarding the expansion of public positions for the TNI, Setara cited the dwi-fungsi (dual socio-political) function of the TNI during the era of Suharto's New Order regime, which the reformasi process has attempted to abolish.
"Even though it's not directly related to practical politics, the expansion of civilian positions for TNI soldiers could open up space for political accommodation for the military", wrote Setara.
They added, "The long-term impact will be to create a debt of gratitude because all the spaces in K/L [government ministries and institutions] can be opened up based on presidential policy, which ipso facto is a political product resulting from contestation in the general election."
Earlier, revisions to the TNI Law were doing the rounds at the House of Representatives (DPR). Criticism has emerged from a number of groups, primarily about the restoration of the TNI's dwi-fungsi.
Coordinating Minister for Security, Politics and Legal Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto has denied that it will lead to a revival of the TNI's dwi-fungsi, saying that the TNI"s role in politics as it was during the New Order will not be repeated.
"In discussions later we will not get into those norms [dwi-fungsi]. The contents also", said Tjahjanto following an event titled Public Hearing on the Draft TNI and Polri Laws at the Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta on Thursday July 11.
"The TNI doesn't have representatives in the DPR [as it did during the New Order era]. Dwi-fungsi doesn't exist anymore. That was the past, part of the historical journey", he said. (dhs/pua)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "SETARA Institute Tolak Revisi UU TNI: Putar Balik Reformasi".]
